Housing Affordability and Availability
We’re rezoning the province to make it easier to build more homes faster. From increased density near transit where people need it, to making it legal to build more than one home on a single family lot, builders big and small will find easier, faster processes to build the homes we need. That’s why we’re second in Canada in new homes per capita, building more rental housing than anywhere in Canada (including 4x as many rental homes as Ontario), and continuing to set new levels for homebuilding despite record high interest rate increases from the Bank of Canada that has paralyzed builders across the country. Disturbingly, the BC Conservatives have said they’re opposed to these measures, saying that if they’re elected, they’ll let public hearings at the local government level on a project-by-project basis wrap up new home construction in endless and costly processes. We can’t afford that approach – it’ll make homes even more expensive and harder to build. As we build, rents are starting to come down – 7% in Vancouver, 11% in North Vancouver and across the province. Our approach is working, and we know the answer is in building more, not making it harder to get homes across the line.
– British Columbia New Democratic Party
The “Get BC Building” plan promises to end the housing shortage and streamline approval
processes.
We will approve homes in months, not years: Rezoning and development permits will be
approved within 6 months, and building permits within 3 months. If cities fail to issue permits
within these timelines, the provincial government will step in and issue them.
We will work with cities to “pre-zone” areas in advance, eliminating delays caused by
rezoning for each individual project.
– Conservative Party of British Columbia
The BC Greens would provide $1.5 billion annually to construct 26,000 new units of non-market housing each year, with 3,000 units dedicated specifically for Indigenous Peoples, as well as make existing public land available for non-profit housing development, and acquire new public land to expand affordable housing opportunities. We would implement province-wide upzoning initiatives to end exclusionary zoning for non-market housing.
We would provide $650 million annually in infrastructure funding to municipalities, partner with
municipalities to meet housing development targets, and reward successful communities by sharing a portion of property transfer taxes.
– Green Party of British Columbia
There’s just two measurements, the cost of rents and the cost of housing compared to incomes. As we build, rents are starting to come down – 7% in Vancouver, 11% in North Vancouver with similar decreases in centres across the province. There are some exceptions, which is why we need to keep working to deliver even more housing. Home prices for purchase remain stubbornly high, but are coming down slightly largely due to interest rate costs imposed by the Bank of Canada. That’s not real affordability impact. To get at housing affordability we need our June reforms to municipal bylaws to allow more homes to be built faster to set homebuilders free to build what needs to get done across the province. These reforms mean townhomes, and affordable multi-unit residences in established neighbourhoods, can be built quickly. Faster building will help middle class families find a foothold in the market without waiting years for a permit to build as costs skyrocket. We’re also using public land through BC Builds to build attainable middle-income housing by helping control the cost of land, partnering with private builders to get units up quickly. John Rustad has a 20-year record of defending the status quo on housing. When asked what of our housing plan he’d keep, he said “not much.” That’s good news for real estate speculators as our population balloons and people search for limited housing and wait for endless municipal processes to approve the housing we know we need, but it’s very bad news for the rest of us. Let’s keep taking action on housing and build a future where everyone can afford to live here.
– British Columbia New Democratic Party
We have committed to introducing the Rustad Rebate which is the largest tax cut in BC’s
history. The rebate will remove BC income taxes from $3,000 per month of housing costs, including rent, mortgage interest, and strata fees, offering significant relief to both renters and homeowners.
As mentioned before, we will also repeal hidden taxes introduced by the NDP which have
made it so expensive to build in BC.
– Conservative Party of British Columbia
The impact of high housing costs is eroding both the economy and the overall livability of our communities. This housing crisis is complex, deeply entrenched and there is no quick fix. For too long, BC’s housing system has served primarily as a mechanism for increasing wealth, rather than ensuring fair access to housing for all. The financialization of housing—where corporate investors buy properties and drive up prices—has been a major factor in rising unaffordability across the province.
The BC Greens would increase funding to the Rental Protection Fund with a $500 million re-capitalization to safeguard existing affordable rental units. We would additionally grant non-profit organizations the right of first refusal on the sale of rental apartment buildings, preventing the loss of affordable housing to private developers.
– Green Party of British Columbia
Yes. We are digitizing and standardizing local permit processes to make it easier and faster for homeowners and industry professionals to submit applications to local governments and First Nations. The Building Permit Hub is the next step in our work to speed up homebuilding and reduce the costs of housing, and meet the Province’s goal for British Columbia to become a North American leader in digital permitting and construction. We have heard from industry, local governments and First Nations that some of the biggest challenges with the local building-permit submission process are incomplete applications, inconsistent submission requirements from one community to another and different interpretations of compliance with BC Building Code requirements. These problems contribute to costly delays to building new homes for people. The Building Permit Hub addresses these challenges by offering a one-stop, simplified process, resulting in faster processing and review times. Builders submit their permit applications online in the hub, which will:
- standardize building-permit submission requirements across jurisdictions in B.C.;
- automatically check that the permit application is complete; and
- automatically check compliance with key parts of the BC Building Code.
– British Columbia New Democratic Party
We believe the permit process should be straightforward and predictable for BC’s
homebuilders.
We will speed up the approval process, issuing rezoning and development permits within 6
months, and building permits within 3 months. If cities fail to issue permits within these
timelines, the provincial government will step in and issue them.
– Conservative Party of British Columbia
The BC Greens are committed to efficient governance, while reducing emissions in the building sector by promoting conservation, efficiency, and lower-carbon design and materials.
We look forward to working closely with the BC Construction Association to better understand what standards would improve the permitting and development processes.
– Green Party of British Columbia